Tripura goes to BJP

Agartala: The BJP has stormed the Left citadel in Tripura. The BJP, a political non-entity in the state till the last Assembly election, has created an upset with its poll ally, the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT), winning 40 out of the 59 Assembly seats.

The BJP had got 1.54 per cent vote share in the last polls (2013) and had never won an Assembly constituency in Tripura in its entire history. Even during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government’s tenure, the BJP secured barely 1.32 per cent votes in the 2003 Assembly election.

Sarma, Assam finance minister and election in-charge for Tripura, has extensively worked in the state for the last couple of months and has campaigned throughout the state and concentrating on the support of followers of different Hindu religious sects.

Sarma, also known as the BJP’s ‘magic man’, engineered an alliance with the Indigenous Peoples’ Front of Tripura (IPFT), a regional party demanding a separate state. The alliance gave the BJP a lot of edge over the 20 Scheduled Tribe (reserved) seats where the IPFT has got a sizeable support base.